bombilla

[ bawm-bee-yah, -lyah ]

noun

, Spanish.

, plural bom·bi·llas [bawm-, bee, -yahs, -lyahs].

1. a tube or drinking straw with a strainer at one end, especially for drinking maté.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bombilla¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

The vulnerable people and farm animals were evacuated from Las Manchas, Fuencaliente, La Bombilla, El Remo and Puerto Naos, the Canary Islands government said, but the island remains on yellow alert, the second lowest of a four-level alert system.

From Reuters

It is easy to recognize people drinking mate because it is always drunk out of a very specifically sized and shaped “mug” — actually a hollowed-out gourd — and through a metal straw called a bombilla.

From Washington Post

The tea-like drink is traditionally brewed in a hollowed-out, dried gourd and sipped from the gourd through a metal straw, known in Spanish as a “bombilla.”

From Washington Times

Each participant drains the gourd through the same perforated straw, which the Spanish dubbed a bombilla.

From Slate

They continued the Guaraní custom of sharing the same gourd and bombilla, a ritual that continues today.

From Slate